Who Waits Forever Anyway?
by ElvenQueen18
Summary: "One must wait continuously, one must pursue endlessly. Is that... the story of a dream that shouldn't be waited upon?" Saber's spirit contacts Merlin after her death.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fate/stay night, and both the title and lyrics are from "Who Wants to Live Forever?" by Queen.

* * *

**Who Waits Forever Anyway?**

_There's no chance for us.  
__It's all decided for us.  
__This world has only one sweet moment  
__Set aside for us._

_Then touch my tears with your lips.  
__Touch my world with your fingertips.  
__And we can have forever.  
__And we can love forever.  
__Forever is our today._

* * *

Fresh green grass stretched on for miles. The azure blue sky, the warm rays of the sun, and the white, wispy clouds showed no signs of any storm. Even the very air was pure and unpolluted.

Everything was peaceful in this place. For the first time in so long, there was no need for Arturia to fight. Eternal rest was her reward for everything she had endured, both in her life as King and during her time as a Servant.

Yes, Avalon was a paradise.

But to Arturia, without a certain someone she'd left behind, it wasn't quite perfect.

She had been residing in Avalon for less than twenty-four hours when she appeared before Merlin. The soft white light from her ghostly form illuminated the cave they were in. She wasn't dressed in her armor or any royal finery, but in a simple, light blue dress. Her blonde hair was free from its usual bun, falling to her shoulders. With the way she looked now, the fact that she was once the King of Knights seemed absurd.

If Merlin was surprised by Arturia's appearance, or even her apparition, he didn't show it.

"Arturia," he greeted, looking up at her.

"Merlin," she acknowledged him, "for perhaps the last time, I need your advice."

"This would not have anything to do with your Master, would it?" the old magus asked shrewdly.

Arturia blinked, startled, but then she smiled. Of course Merlin would know about Shirou; he had the gift of foresight, after all.

"Well, that does save me the trouble of explanations." Her smile faded. "Before I returned to the moment of my death, I made my feelings for Shirou known to him. Perhaps it should be enough...but it's not."

Arturia paused, staring into space with a wistfulness that Merlin had never seen before.

Her gaze went back to her mentor, and when she spoke again, her voice was quieter. "Merlin, is there any way I can see Shirou again?"

Merlin was momentarily silent. "That would depend on both of you," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"If you truly wish to meet again with this boy, you must eternally wait for him, and he must eternally search for you." Merlin looked at Arturia seriously. "But even so, there is no guarantee that a reunion is possible."

Merlin knew better than most how idealistic Arturia was the day she pulled Caliburn from its stone. Even when he'd shown her how her reign would end—that she would be feared, hated, betrayed, and ultimately killed—she still agreed to shoulder the burden of ruling Britain. In the end, the tragedies he'd predicted had come to pass, and Arturia's idealism had been broken.

Even if Arturia waited for Shirou until the end of time, even if he spent forever believing he would find her someday...what would it matter if she was only setting herself up for more sorrow?

But she merely smiled confidently. "I don't care how long it takes; I am more than willing to wait for Shirou."

A small smile crossed Merlin's elderly face. He had just told Arturia that reuniting with her lover was essentially impossible, and even if it wasn't, it would still be a very long time before the reunion would occur.

And she still was willing to endure what would most likely be centuries, maybe even millennia, of waiting.

Why did that not surprise him?

"If that is what you wish, my King," Merlin said with a slight teasing edge.

"Yes, thank you, Merlin." Arturia was now frowning, unamused.

He only chuckled, then became serious again. "For what it's worth, Arturia, I do believe you can have some happiness for yourself, even if it's far into the future."

Arturia's smile slowly returned, the wistfulness from earlier now present in her eyes. There was a moment of silence. Before she faded away to go back to Avalon, she spoke one last time, her voice genuine.

"Thank you, Merlin."

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**Author's Note:** Okay, so I don't know if it's actually possible in the Nasuverse for a spirit to communicate with a living person, but every time I read that scene with Saber and Merlin in Fate's epilogue, that's the feeling I get: that Saber had gone to Avalon after she died, then her spirit went to the physical world to talk to Merlin (who's in the cave that he's said to have been sealed in) about whether or not it was possible for her to see Shirou again. The Fate/stay night page on TvTropes says that Merlin spoke to Saber telepathically while she was dying, but it doesn't seem like it to me.

Besides, I've been wanting to write a Shirou/Saber one-shot inspired by Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever?" for a while now. ^_^

Read and review!


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